Suspec­ts arrest­ed for 'dissem­inatin­g propag­anda for terror groups' as Ankara presse­s its new offens­ive in SyriaANKARA:Turkish security forces on Tuesday detained dozens more people across the country on accusations of disseminating propaganda for “terror” groups, in a major clampdown as Ankara presses its new offensive inside Syria. The detentions come as Turkey pressed ahead with its military incursion in northern Syria against the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia. The six detained in Van are accused of making propaganda and sharing information that is “not true” about the Syria operation, dubbed “Olive Branch”. After the arrests on Monday, rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) hit out at Ankara’s “intolerance of criticism”, in a statement. Emma Sinclair-Webb, HRW’s Turkey researcher, said prosecutors were misusing articles of the law to “silence” journalists, government critics and activists.

Source: The Express Tribune January 23, 2018 11:37 UTC